For a minute you think you can run again,
feel the hand of a gust pushing you hard,
finger nails digging in like there’s no
apology to give. But the North wind
doesn’t blow up my street.
It lies slumbering in the sharp gravel
of a road, watching the stillness of life
hang, like a breathless tongue lost in a sound.
Death arrives early here.
Or so it seems. The passing of time is
a stifled hurricane stealing youth, leaving
rusting scars all over a body that pleads to run.
For a minute you think you still can.
A mind rooted in crossing the line
will outrun every storm trampling its path,
but it can never remove the hands of care.
This street won’t let you go.
Julie Stevens has had Multiple Sclerosis (MS) for 30 years. Her poems tend to reflect the impact MS has on her life, as well as other topics close to her heart. Her poems have recently been published in various magazines, online and in print, most recently The Blue Nib, The Honest Ulsterman, Dodging the Rain and Dreich. Her chapbook Quicksand has recently been published by Hybrid Press having come second in the Dreich Chapbook Competition. Her website is: www.jumpingjulespoetry.com.
More work by Julie Stevens
Tel: 028 7126 6946
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